Updates and Newsletters: The main news stories from the major sources, selected, compiled, and occasionally commented on by Michael Novakhov ("Mike Nova") | Public RSS Feeds on the various topics of Global Security | Topics oriented news reviews

US Vice-President Joe Biden has accused America’s key allies in the Middle East of allowing the rise of the Islamic State (IS aka ISIL or ISIS), saying they supported extremists with money and weapons in their eagerness to topple Assad in Syria.

America’s “biggest problem” in Syria is its regional allies, Biden told students at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University on Thursday.

“Our allies in the region were our largest problem in Syria,” he said, explaining that Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were “so determined to take down Assad,” that in a sense they started a “proxy Sunni-Shia war” by pouring “hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of tons of weapons” towards anyone who would fight against Assad.

“And we could not convince our colleagues to stop supplying them,” said Biden, thus dissociating the US from unleashing the civil war in Syria.

“The outcome of such a policy now is more visible,” he said, as it turned out they supplied extremists from Al-Nusra Front and Al-Qaeda.

On Thursday, October 2, 2014, the 47th Vice President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden Jr., delivered a public address on foreign policy to the JFK Jr. Forum. He spoke of the importance of America's international role, discussing conflicts in the Middle East, Russia and Asia. He also emphasized the need for a stronger American economy and greater trade. The Forum was moderated by David Ellwood, the Scott M. Black Professor of Political Economy and the Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School.

On Sunday Vice President Joe Biden called Prince Mohamed bin Zayed, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, and apologized for telling the truth.

The previous day he called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and did the same.

Last week during a speech delivered at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University Biden told the audience the Persian Gulf Wahhabist regimes and Turkey are responsible for supporting ISIS and al-Nusra.

“Saudis, the Emiratis, etc… were so determined to take down Assad and essentially have a proxy Sunni-Shia war, what did they do? They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens, thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad except that the people who were being supplied were Al Nusra and Al Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world. Now you think I’m exaggerating – take a look. Where did all of this go? So now what’s happening? All of a sudden everybody’s awakened because this outfit called ISIL which was Al Qaeda in Iraq, which when they were essentially thrown out of Iraq, found open space in territory in eastern Syria, work with Al Nusra who we declared a terrorist group early on and we could not convince our colleagues to stop supplying them.”

This is only part of the story. In fact, the United States, Britain and Israel have played a key role in arming and training ISIS, now the Islamic State. Direct evidence of this support emerged during congressional hearings on Benghazi when the CIA’s “rat line” arms shipment to “moderate rebels” in Syria was exposed.

As Infowars.com noted last year, ambassador Stevens, who was killed in Benghazi, was instrumental not only in facilitating weapon transfers to Syria from Libya, but also served as a key contact with the Saudis to coordinate the recruitment by Saudi Arabia of Islamic fighters from North Africa and Libya.

Moreover, the effort by the U.S., Turkey and the Gulf Emirates to support and arm radical Wahhabist factions in Syria – who are the only effective fighters in the proxy war to unseat al-Assad – has been widely documented in the European press while generally ignored in the United States.

Back in 2007, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalistSeymour Hersh sketched out the rationale for the collaboration between the U.S., Britain, Israel, Turkey, and the Gulf Emirates:

To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has coöperated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.

“Israel can shape its strategic environment, in cooperation with Turkey and Jordan, by weakening, containing, and even rolling back Syria. This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq — an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right — as a means of foiling Syria’s regional ambitions,” the document states.

Joe Biden, notorious for his foot-in-the-mouth commentary, inflicted minor albeit temporary damage on the effort to portray ISIS as an arch enemy instead of what it really is – a key component in the effort to take down al-Assad and confront Iran.

Despite Biden’s embarrassing admission the larger agenda – removing Bashar al-Assad and his Shia government – remains paramount. This will be accomplished by supposedly attacking the Islamic State mercenary army, said to number around 30,000 fighters. This relatively small army allegedly controls 25 percent of Syrian territory and a third of Iraq.

Despite air strikes and hyperbolic speeches by Obama and British PM David Cameron, ISIS recently took control of Abu Ghraib and key cities in the Anbar province. It is now reportedly a mile outside Baghdad.

The U.S., Israel, Britain, the Gulf Emirates, Jordan and Turkey share an overriding agenda – to exacerbate the Sunni-Shia conflict and balkanize the region along ethnic and religious lines. This will continue and criticism of the effort will be deflected on the Saudis and Qataris who are impervious and in a position to force an American vice president to grovel at their feet.

Abu Dhabi: General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, received a telephone call from US Vice President Joseph Biden on Sunday, apologising for the comments he made.

Biden apologised to the UAE for the comments he made earlier that can be misinterpreted to mean that the UAE had supported some terrorist groups.

Last week, Biden blamed that Middle Eastern allies are partly to blame for the strengthening of some terrorist groups.During the telephone conversation, Biden said the US appreciates the UAE’s historical role and advanced position in fighting extremism and terrorism.

Biden praised the UAE’s close collaboration with the international community in supporting the fundamentals for stability and security in the region.

Shaikh Mohammad and Biden stressed the importance of international collaboration and the need to make every possible effort to eliminate terror groups and put an end to their terrorist practices, referring to the current international coalition, which is formed to combat terrorism and undermine its goals of spreading chaos in the region.

They exchanged views on the latest developments and current situation in the region.

Vice President Joe Biden suggested the Gulf state had armed and financed jihadists in Syria, along with other regional powers.

Biden's remarks were "amazing and ignore the role of the Emirates in the fight against extremism and terrorism," the UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Mohammad Gargash, said in a statement carried late Saturday by the official WAM news agency.

Gargash asked for Biden to clarify the comments, which he said had given "a false impression about the role of the UAE... at a time when it is actually supporting... efforts to overcome" the jihadists.

The UAE is one of a handful of Arab allies taking part in US-led air strikes against the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria. The others are Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

Biden has already apologised to Turkey over the comments suggesting that it was one of the countries in the region that had armed and financed the ISIL in Syria.

"The vice president apologised for any implication that Turkey or other allies and partners in the region had intentionally supplied or facilitated the growth of ISIL or other violent extremists in Syria," Biden's office said on Saturday, using a common acronym for the ISIL group.

On Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden blamed Turkey and US allies for the rise of ISIS.Biden made the remarks during a speech at Harvard. Biden accused Turkey and Gulf nations of funding terrorists for the cause.Russia Today reported:

“Our allies in the region were our largest problem in Syria,” he said, explaining that Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE were “so determined to take down Assad,” that in a sense they started a “proxy Sunni-Shia war” by pouring “hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of tons of weapons” towards anyone who would fight against Assad. “And we could not convince our colleagues to stop supplying them.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has demanded an apology from U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, if his reported comments about Turkey’s “mistakes that paved the way for the rise of the jihadists” were true.

“If Biden told these words, then he will be history for me. I never uttered such remarks,”Erdoğan said after the morning prayer for Eid al-Adha -the festival of sacrifice observed by Muslims all over the world- in Istanbul on early Oct. 4.

“President Erdoğan told me, he is an old friend, said you were right, we let too many people through, now we are trying to seal the border,” Biden had said during a speech on foreign policy at Harvard Kennedy School on Oct. 2, while complaining about the conduct of his country’s regional allies that led to the rise of the Islamic State and Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

“I was Prime Minister at the time. We absolutely didn’t provide even the smallest amount of support to any terrorist organization, including the ISIL. Nobody can prove it. Foreign fighters never crossed from Turkey to Syria. There were people coming to Turkey as tourists and went to Syria, but nobody can suggest that they were armed while crossing the border,” Erdoğan said.

Turkish President also stressed that Ankara’s “sensitivity” over the issue continues, as do its measures to prevent the jihadist flow into Syria.

4 days ago - About Daniel Greenfield. Pete. At one time the USSR backed both a Marxist Ethiopia and Somalia. Pete. Russia could sign a deal with ISIS if it did not attack a Syrian rump state, Shia Iraq, Iranor any other neighboring states. Gee. Sara. Texas Patriot. Pete. ObamaYoMoma. objectivefactsmatter.

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